Treatment of liquids with gases



Get. 16, 1934. 5 MacLEAN 1,976,956

TREATMENT OF LIQUIDS WITH GASES Filed Nov. 18. 1932 2 Sh -2ets--Shee:. l

WYM an A TORNEY5 Oct. 16, 1934. G. MacLEAN TREATMENT OF LIQUIDS WITH GASES Filed Nov. 18 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR- don/022 J/arfiean *f/ HI M A TORNEYS Patented on. 16, 1934- I 1,970,956 TREATMENT or mourns wt oases Gordon MacLean, Flushing, N. lY., assignor to The Turbo-Mixer Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Y Application November 18, 1932, Serial No. 843,171

12 Claims.

This invention relates to the processing or treatment of liquids with gases. A liquid containing finely divided solid material in suspension is essentiallya liquid and may be handled in the g same manner as true liquids; and for convenience,

I herein classify such materials as 1iquids" without reference to whether the gas is intended to react with the. liquid itself or with solids suspended in the liquid.

The invention is one of general applicability, being suitable for processing-a wide variety of liquids with a wide varie of gases. I contemplate both continuous and atch procedure, batch procedure being shown by way of illustration. A particular application which will be referred to by way of illustration is the dehydrogenation of asphalt by oxidation. Air is blown or circulated through the asphalt and oxygen in the air combines with hydrogen in the asphalt to form water. 2e Various forms of apparatus are now in commercial use for oxidizing asphalt with air, and these accomplish the oxidation at, various speeds and with various degrees of eiilciency. With many of the asphalt blowing systems now in use, so little of the oxygen in the air is actually utilized that the exhaust gases show over eighteen percent oxygen. This, of course, means that the time requiredfor completely treating the asphalt is quite long and that a large amount of power must be expended topump through the asphalt the large amount of air required for complete treatment. A few asphalt blowing systems utilize more of the oxygen in the air, but so far as I am aware, the most efflcient systems which have been used heretofore leave at least eight percent of oxygen in the exhaust gases. It may be pointed out that it substantially all of the oxygen in the air could be used in the process, considerablyreduced total volume of air would be required tor the treatment'of a. given quantity of asphalt.

This would result in a saving in the power required to pump the air and would further result in a reduction of the time required for complete treatment. 7

A general object of the present invention is to reduce the cost and/or time of procesing liquids with gases by obtaining more eil'ective utilization of the gas.

A more specific object of the invention is to re- 'duce the-cost and time required for processing liquids with gases by producing a large area of contact between the gas and liquid with scrubbingactionbetweentheliquidandgasandalong lengthottraveloithegasthrou'ghtheliquiiall of which combine to effect more complete utilization of the gas in the process.

Another object of the invention is to provide commercially suitable apparatus which, will peedily and economically treat liquids with so gases. t

V Fig. 1 is a vertical section showing illustrative apparatus embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken approximately on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a development showing a portion of the gate valve for controlling liquid flow to the impeller shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

A tank 1 adapted tocontain the liquid to be processed is provided with a suitable valved inlet 7o. and outlet pipe 2 and an overflowpipe 3. Across the top of the tank there are suitable cross beams or supporting members 4 (one shown) from which depend two or more rods 6 adapted to suspend a stationary flow controlling structure 7e designated as a whole by 7. Supported on the cross members 4 is a conventional motor actuated drive vunit 8 operative to rotate a dependingvertical shaft 9 which carries a rotary impeller designated' as a whole by 10. The impeller 10 may at be of a well known duplex type adapted to draw in liquid from upper and lower zones in the tank, and discharge the liquid outwardly in a substantially horizontal plane.

The stationary structure '7 comprises a hood 86 member 12 shaped much like the outer portion of an ordinary tin wash basin turned upside down. The hood member 12 maybe cast of metal and integral with itthere may be formed curved deflecting blades 13 which extend vertically downwardly from the hood 12. The hood may be .provided with apertured bosses 14 adapted to be clamped as shown between nuts on the rods 6 to. support the stationary structure land to provide for. its accurate vertical location with respect to the impeller. To the hood member 12, there is secured disc shaped apertured plates 16 and 17 providing upper and-lower shrouding respectively tor the impeller 10. Welded or otherwise attached to the shrouding plate .16 is a vertically extending tubular section 18 provided with a serles of snnularly arranged diamond shaped openings 18*. Immediately above thetubular section 18 and spaced slightly therefrom is a second tubular section 19 which communicates with an air supply pipe 20 that may be opened to the atmosphere. Within the tubular sections 18 and 19, there is a. vertically movable sleeve 21- having a seriesrot 'diamond shaped openings 21' correto openings 18'. By vertically moving 11 0 said sleeve 21 the degree of communication between the tank and the interior of tube 18 may be varied. Such vertical movement may be effected through adjustment rods 22 attached to sleeve 21 and positioned by rotatable hand wheels 23. A stufllng gland 24 may be provided where shaft 9 enters the air tube.

In operation, the tank is filled with the liquid to be treated (e. g. asphalt) to a depth which will completely submerge the impeller and the holes 18 in the tubular section 18. When the impeller isrotated, it draws liquid. in through the bottom intake port 26 and it also draws in liquid which flows through the apertures 18, and passes down in a more or less annular stream through port 2'7. The flow of liquid through the impeller creates a low pressure zone adjacent the hub of the impeller. Thus, air isdrawn in through the pipes 20 and 19 and is entrained with the liquid so that impeller blades 29 cause streams of mixed gas and liquid to flow outwardly in a substantially horizontal direction between the shroudin l6 and 1'7.

The impeller 10 may be of any suitable and known type, a very efiective type being that known as the forward discharge type which is shown in the drawings. It will be seen that as the liquid and air enter the impeller, they are travelling in a substantially vertical direction. The mixture is immediately picked up by the blades and projected into foutwardly flowing streams which follow a given-path, gaining speed as the material approaches the tips of the impeller blades. flow of themxed air and liquid as they enter the impeller causes the air to subdivide into relatively small bubbles which are extensively dispersed throughout the liquid; and the bubbles are distorted from a spherical form, vthus increasing the area of contact between the bubbles and the liquid. Furthermore, there is produced a rubbng or scrubbing action between the bubbles and the liquid which facilitates the action of the air upon the liquid. -The curved ends of the forward discharge impeller blades cause the outwardly travelling streams of mixed air and liquid to be projected tangentially forward as they leave the impeller, but the'streams immediately strike stationary curved blades 13 and are thereby directed in a radial direction as far as the component of motion in a horizontal plane is concerned.

' This change of flow direction as the streams leave the impeller further distorts, subdivides and d sperses the bubbles and produces additional scrubbing action between the air and liquid.

Also, as the mixed air and liquid leaves the impeller it is projected downwardly by the hood 12 in the path shown by the arrows A, thus giving the air bubbles a long path of.travel through the liquid in the tank. As the currents approach the bottom of the tank, they will abate and subdivide, some of the air bubbles travelling to the reenter the impeller with the liquid through the lower intake port 26. Thus a large portion of the-air will be passed through the impeller again and again, thereby effecting almostcomplete utilisation of the oxygen of the air.

'Ihe optimum size of the lower intake port 26 depends upon the material being treated and the depth to which the impeller structure is sub- The abrupt change of direction of merged in the liquid. It is preferable to determine the optimum size by trial for any given thereby regulating rate of liquid flow to the upper port 27. The construction shown is capable of sucking air to a considerable level below the liquid but if it be desired to utilize the impeller at a relatively great distance below the liquid surface, or if it does not suck enough air, the impeller suction can be augmented by a blower delivering the air (or other gas) to pipe 20.

It will be apparent that the time during which the average elemental volume of air is in contact 1 with the liquid is very considerable due to the long air path through the liquid and the recirculation of the air through the impeller. This taken with the distortion of the air bubbles at various points and the scrubbing action between the air and liquid (which has already been referred to) results in almost complete utilization of the air, or other gas. For example, an actual installation of the present invention used 'to oxidize asphalt with air showed less than one percent of oxygen in the exhaust gas, as against eight to eighteen percent oxygen in the exhaust gas of other existing commercial systems. The fact that the oxygen in the air is so completely utilized makes it possible for the impeller itself to draw in as' much air as will ordinarily be required. Thus a usual installation of the present invention saves the initial cost and the-operating cost 0! separate air compressors or blowers. Accordingly, the system of the present invention is very simple and inexpensive to operate as compared to other existing systems in commercial n5 installation. 1

The impeller and the stationary structure associated with it may be made of cast metal or may be fabricated from sheet metal parts welded or otherwise secured together. The metal selected brass, bronze, or Monel metal are used. Also in some instances the impeller and other parts may be covered with rubber or other protective coating.

'The invention may, of course, be embodied in forms other than the particular one disclosed.

For example, various'known types of impellers maybe used instead of the particular one shown in the drawings; and in some instances the bottom shrouding 17 may be dispensed with, particular- 1y if the impeller be of the type havinga horizontal web extending annularly about the impeller hub between the upper and lower edges of the blades- I claim: 1. Apparatus for treating liquids with gases comprising means to hold a body of liquid; means to continuously draw portions of the liquid from upper and lower zones in the main body and to a zone between said upper and lower zones, continuously mix gas with such portions and conr tinuously form the mixture of gas and liquid intolocal streams of substantial length travelling substantially horizontally and separated from the main body of liquid; and means to abruptly change the direction of travel of said local streams and return them to the main body or 8. Apparatus for treating liquids with gases liquid in a downward direction. comprising a tank for liquid; a rotary bladed 2. Apparatus for treating liquids with gases impeller within the tank, the impeller dischargcomprising a substantially horizontal rotary iming outwardly with respect to its axis of rotation peller having upper and lower centrally located and shrouding adjacent the edges of the impeller liquid intake ports and outwardly extending blades; the shrouding having intake ports thereblades; a gas conduit leading to and discharging inlon the opposite sides of the impeller, at least at a point adjacent at least one of said intake one of said ports being open to liquid in the tank; ports whereby the gas is mixed with liquid enterand a gas conduit leading into the tank and dising the impeller; and stationary deflector blades charging adjacent at least 'one of said ports surrounding the impeller, said stationary blades whereby gas is mixed with the liquid entering being efiective 'to change the direction of flow of the impeller. the mixed gas and liquid discharged by the im- 9. Apparatus for treating liquidswith gases peller. comprising a tank for liquid; arotary bladed im- 3. Apparatus for treating liquids with gases peller withinthe tank; shrouding adjacent the co p n a Substantially o o tal ta y imedges of the impeller blades, the shrouding hav- Feller having pp and l w centrally. located ing intake'ports therein on the opposite sides of liquid intake Ports and outwardly extending the impeller, at least one of said intake ports ladeaa gas conduit l ad DOiIlt i'fl being open to the liquid in the tank; a conduit at least one of S ake ports whe y the to conduct gas to a point adjacent one of said gas iS miXP/d with liquid entering the impeller intake ports and there bring it into contact with and he imp discharges in a Substantially the liquid entering the impeller; andstationary horiz t plane Streams of mixed gas and liquiddeflector blades positioned about the periphery substantially vertical stationary deflector blades of t jmpeuen surrounding theirnpeller, and hood means also 10, Apparatus for treating liquids with gases surroundin e impeller direct downwardly comprising a tank for liquid; a rotary bladed imthe streams discharged by h impellerpeller within the'tank; shrouding adjacent the 4. Appara us o treating liquids wlth' gases edgs'of the impeller blades, the shouding having comp i i a substantially horizontal rotary intake ports therein on each side of the impeller, peller having upper and lower centrally located at least one of said intake ports being t 'mg liqui intake ports and outwardly extqndmg the liquid in the tank; a conduit to conduct gas blades, a gas conduit leadmgto Point adlacent to'a point adjacent one of said intake ports and at least one of said intake ports whereby the gas there bring it into cbntact with the liquid entering is mixed with liquid entering the mp r l the impeller, stationary deflector blades posithe impeller discharges in subslialmfl'ulf tioned about the periphery of the impeller; and zontal plane streams of mixed gas and llqu d, and a hood also about. the periphery of the impeller hood means Surrounding the impeller to direct blades to direct downwardly the discharge from downwardlythe streams discharged by the imthe impellen P 8 11. Apparatus for treating liquids with gases PPa for l liquids with gases comprising a tank for liquid; an impeller rotat- .tank for hqmd; a rPtary waded able'within the tank on a substantially vertical impeller within the tank; shrouding. ad acent axis, the impeller having blades operative to the edges of the impeller blades, the ShlOlldiIlE' direct liquid outwardly in a Substantially b having intake openings therein on each side of zontal plane, there being shrouding adjacent the l duplex hqmd upper edges of the blades and the impeller being 120, the tank mto the Impeller; and condmt open top and bottom to receive liquid above and duct gas toa point adjacent one of said lntake below from the tank; conducl. m e

vports and there bring it into contact with the sifionediw efiect the mixture of gas with the d entering .the impengr' liquid handled by, the impeller; and downwardly Apparams for treatmg 'hqmds gases inclined hood meanspositioned circumferentlally' comprising tank'forv'liquid; rotary bladed of the impeller to deflect downwardly the mix- .peller within the tank; shrouding adjacent the ture of and liquid discharged by the impenerr edges of the impeller blades, the shrouding hav- 12. Apparatus i0! treating liquids with g V ing intake openings therein on each-side of the comprising a tank for liquid; an impeller rotatf impeller duplex mum the able within the'tank on a substantially vertical tank into the impeller; a conduit to conduct gas axis the impeller having b1 ades operative to to a point adjacent one of said intake ports and not liquid outwardly in a Substan" n lhori there bring it into contact with the liquid enterzontal plane, there being I u adj t the ing the impeller, and stationary deflectorblades upper edges of the blades and the impeller being pbsitioned aboutthe periphery of e impeller open top and bottom to receive liquid above and i zi gi g g g gfi g f below from the tank; gas'conducting means E gz p shrzmding g m the tioned to eflfect the mixture of gas with the llllilllllelg v 1 g o edges of the m r e shrouding g 11331;; fsl Zte umi Z$ifr the mg intake openings therein on each side of t e impeller to deflect down my the lure of i 1 im er permitting duplex liquid flow from the tan f intothe impeller; a conduit to'conductEas g zg gfil fi m sg gg f g f gsgg xg mini adjacent sud intake PMS and with said hood means and positioned in the path there bring it into contact with the liquid enter- 7 ing the impeller; stationary deflector blades posi- 9 the mixture dischafrged by Sam impel! tioned-about the periphery of th impeller; and GORDON e a hood also about the periphery of the impeller the impeller.

blades to direct downwardly discharge from 

